Scarlet Night: Call of the Carnivorous Moon

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The Maaluukian Woods teem with many life forms. The name was given to the woods by the native Elvs, Vescrutian moths. Maaluuki have heightened senses and extrasensory abilities, they prevent travelers from finding their homes with Psionic abilities.
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Inariel H
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Re: Scarlet Night: Call of the Carnivorous Moon

Post by Inariel H »

“Whoa there, think carefully about the implications you just gave me. You’re saying you don’t know who you are and the moon made you kill someone. Will you strike again under the moon?
He clenched his fist again and turned back at her his voice raised his face seething with uncertainty and a tinge of rage.

"I am unsure Nagase!"

He lashed his teeth grinding against one another.

" Several weeks ago I opened my eyes for what felt like the first time. I remember nothing of my origins, nothing from whence I came, nothing about what created me! Ever since I've awakened I've been painted as a danger, an oddity of nature...a perversion of it."

He walked further down her words beating the back of his neck. The cluster of locks teaming down his backside swayed with each step beyond the grave. There was a slope, one that leads to a decline in the forest. as they ventured downward the roots of the neighboring trees began appeared as if creating a cave of sorts. A myriad of plant life littered the doorway of the expanse. The cardinal fauna had left their sights and now the lush green plush domain of Allen was upon them. You could feel lingering despots his naten seeping through the foliage through the area. This was his Den.
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"The hunger...it was deep, voracious, but I knew not on what I fed. The Wood she revved something in me. It was instinctual, my flow of life. It called it my Anthem. My understanding of naten was all I could recall. I survived on it. It kept me complacent. The messenger had advised me never to stray it far from the Den. The night of the moon I drifted, feeling its thick pulsation drawing me deeper in. I felt this pain in my chest, a pounding in my skull and then...a baptism of red..."

He turned from her once more. Touching the root that hid the opening of his domain.

"E'vanoris"

The roots began to retract. Slithering back into the grove around them like serpents.

"Choices, it is something I undestand, the reasons are what confounds me... My form was changed...More beast than whatever I appear before you now to be. But the Wood saw it all...I would hear of it...one thing I believe it cannot do, is to recall false history...I did not just kill him...I became him...But that...that did not feel to be the original goal of whatever I was doing. Something disturbed the process...something shifted." And seeing your eyes, the fire beneath your mask cracked the one I wore...I can feel it as well, something other than the moon connects us. It is the main reason to go with you to the Astral I have chosen."

As he entered the sunlight path gradually darkened to a dim lit visage. A large tree with several critters and lamps laid in the center of the modest area. It was calm, tranquil even. The light up bugs flapped around nibbling on the flowers and leaves around and the critters ate them.
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So returns the enigma to further disrupt the balance. Have you not tipped the scales enough. Had you paid heed the Orc would still live...

This time the voice was more focus direct. Its tone more pointed coming from the left side of his dwelling. From the draping plantlife emerged a being forged from what seemed to be wood and moss. It resembled some form of bipedal fowl. He recognized this. It was one of the forms the Wood took when addressing him physically.

"I was called..."

And now you have learned what heeding an unfamiliar call can bring...You've unleashed Chaos...you return...changed...awake. As has the part of the forest you have stained. What is it now that you seek. You and this girl of Hellgate birth, leaders...conjoined, intertwined with the Fate of the Astral. Surprised I am to find you have not been killed...

He sucked his teeth. as the creature spoke there was a series of clicks and acute head movements. It Rose higher standing about 8 feet tall. It squawked, releasing a high pitched tone the bounced everywhere.

"I come to speak of the Night. The moon was soaked in scarlet, it beckoned me, demanded action. You were there. As you are everywhere here. What happened to me? And intervene you did not...why? Speak, tell me if this pleases you.."

The creature began to walk toward Allen its mighty footsteps sent small rattles through the earth. It turned it head to the side, its crystal clear eyeball stuck on Allen reflecting his amber face in its gleam.

The night I did bear witness. An occurrence that has flushed Vescrutia with its flare at least 50 times over. An oddity of planetary alignment. The Scarlet night. Others speak of it as the Advent of the Carnivorous Moon. It is a time where as you may know the planet is besmirched in an insidious aura. Naten almost foreign to this realm floods the side of the planet the moons fixate on in their orbit. Creature mate vigorously, aroused by the captivating gleam of the moons cardinal hue. Some bicker others fight. But...

"I have heard of this, She, Nagase mentioned this. But the light, it is harmless, exposes urges yes, but directly influences a being...to that extent.."

Had you answer creature we would not be here. But indeed. Normally it does not cause such a...strange transformation. Where you entered this forest as some reflection of man you changed into some manner of beast. A fearsome cesspit of unrecognizable lust and desire.A brute of instinct. I saw that change..you drank from the Moons themselves...a beast... like a living void seeking to devour the heavens you consumed its essence. You bore a likeness to an almost forgotten creation...ancient almost elven in kind. She felt this...the girl with you this...Nagase. She can feel it as well as I...You are somehow tethered to her kind, beings who have walked the currents of time here upon the Mother.

The leafy vessel turns from him to Nagase. Allen recalled this...right before his shifted form he felt an incredible longing for something. He was emptied out and force-fed the power of the Moon. Something willed this...Something that had been slumbering until the Advent.

"To...her...The Hellgate?"

Cease this war of will... YOU WILL HEED THE CALL!


It rang deep, loud in his mind. It was a crippling sound once that demanded obedience. He fell to his knees. The pounding pushing against his skull. Anguish etched on his face. However, the Wood stayed on Nagase.

The monster did not merely Kill the Orc...Neigh what he attempted to do was far sinister... What awoke in this naive curr was a dark and fearsome urge to overcome. He saw a Pillar that he had to topple a dream he had to crush. Within this boy is a will the likes I have not seen in ens. But within such a gift is turned against him he felt challenged by the Orc. The audacity presented him with a challenge. He was not satisfied with merely takin his life. As if by a whim he decided...

Allen grunted, his memories during the transformation returning.

"I...I was impressed by him, Bora. With a faring soul, he stood before me hopeful teeming with expectation...pride. He intrigued me. He sought to stand in my way. I wanted it...that feeling of having something to be proud of. He forsook his blade and we collided. I..Impalled him with my Anthem. Sent my hand deep within his heart from there...I had unleashed something within him..."

Daughter of Ves you witnessed what happened after, the ripple effects of what this beast cannot comprehend. He is like a newborn babe that has gained access to a place he was not ready to enter. But to take he sought anyway and thus he could not attest for the power of the soul of a living being. He tried to overtake the Orc, he flushed him full of his blood he sought to rip from the Orc everything that made him who he was and leave him with nothing. But the soul, the ever-burning furnace of ambition scorned him. The Orc pushed back, and his consciousness engulfed the creature...It was something that was a first for me to witness. And with his advent came a shifting in the creatures of this wood. Forever marred by the scarlet moons covetous nature. Forever scarred by this monster. He must leave...you must take him. For the trails of his beginnings do not rest here...It cannot stay here, I will allow no further harm to come to these children. The way it feeds, the reasons it does this...is...unatural

Allen remembered how it felt plunging his fist into the chest of the Orc, the feeling of pillaging his essence. The thrill of claiming his life. The sense of fufillment that came after. And the jarring experience of almost being washed away by desire. He was still in pain, his head still rininging. How come she didn't hear the voice. It thundered like the skies that night. Hearing the Wood speak shocked him back into reality somewhat. It seemed his welcome had bee overstayed...
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Nagase
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Re: Scarlet Night: Call of the Carnivorous Moon

Post by Nagase »

"I am unsure Nagase!"
She hid a snicker behind her mask. She felt his anguish in full, but couldn’t ignore the similarities between Allen and her brother, Azazel. They’re personalities were different, wildly different;but, they found common ground here- Confusion. Their identity held much weight in their confidence, but secretly they hid incredible and fearsome power.

She could see that with a moments glance, that he was unsure as he said;but, she had to push him. She always felt encouraged to challenge the strong, wether it be their character, word, will or spirit- she’d prick the nerve.

Her eyes were slump, reflecting her fiery confidence in a stoic, relaxed expression.

‘...’

She motioned to speak, opening her mouth to quell his excitement and explained her harmless snicker.
" Several weeks ago I opened my eyes for what felt like the first time. I remember nothing of my origins, nothing from whence I came, nothing about what created me! Ever since I've awakened I've been painted as a danger, an oddity of nature...a perversion of it."


‘You can’t be a perversion of nature if you’re born of nature, Allen. It may not be fair for me to challenge you so bluntly...’

-She thought to apologize, but that would dampen her effort, she still wasn’t sure how far he could be trusted.-
"The hunger...it was deep, voracious, but I knew not on what I fed. The Wood she revved something in me. It was instinctual, my flow of life. It called it my Anthem. My understanding of naten was all I could recall. I survived on it. It kept me complacent. The messenger had advised me never to stray it far from the Den. The night of the moon I drifted, feeling its thick pulsation drawing me deeper in. I felt this pain in my chest, a pounding in my skull and then...a baptism of red..."
“That sounds very familiar actually, like something I was reading once in my father’s study, there’s a word...on the tip of my tongue;but, I can’t remember. Give me a moment..”
He turned from her once more. Touching the root that hid the opening of his domain. "E'vanoris"
"E'vanoris" She mimicked perfectly, only a brief moment after Allen said it. She stared at the branch gates for a moment, before walking behind Allen. She’d come to far to turn back now.
"Choices, it is something I undestand, the reasons are what confounds me... My form was changed...More beast than whatever I appear before you now to be. But the Wood saw it all...I would hear of it...one thing I believe it cannot do, is to recall false history...I did not just kill him...I became him...But that...that did not feel to be the original goal of whatever I was doing. Something disturbed the process...something shifted." And seeing your eyes, the fire beneath your mask cracked the one I wore...I can feel it as well, something other than the moon connects us. It is the main reason to go with you to the Astral I have chosen."

As he entered the sunlight path gradually darkened to a dim lit visage. A large tree with several critters and lamps laid in the center of the modest area. It was calm, tranquil even. The light up bugs flapped around nibbling on the flowers and leaves around and the critters ate them.
Spoiler
Show
Image
So returns the enigma to further disrupt the balance. Have you not tipped the scales enough. Had you paid heed the Orc would still live...

This time the voice was more focus direct. Its tone more pointed coming from the left side of his dwelling. From the draping plantlife emerged a being forged from what seemed to be wood and moss. It resembled some form of bipedal fowl. He recognized this. It was one of the forms the Wood took when addressing him physically.

"I was called..."

And now you have learned what heeding an unfamiliar call can bring...You've unleashed Chaos...you return...changed...awake. As has the part of the forest you have stained. What is it now that you seek. You and this girl of Hellgate birth, leaders...conjoined, intertwined with the Fate of the Astral. Surprised I am to find you have not been killed...

He sucked his teeth. as the creature spoke there was a series of clicks and acute head movements. It Rose higher standing about 8 feet tall. It squawked, releasing a high pitched tone the bounced everywhere.

"I come to speak of the Night. The moon was soaked in scarlet, it beckoned me, demanded action. You were there. As you are everywhere here. What happened to me? And intervene you did not...why? Speak, tell me if this pleases you.."

The creature began to walk toward Allen its mighty footsteps sent small rattles through the earth. It turned it head to the side, its crystal clear eyeball stuck on Allen reflecting his amber face in its gleam.

The night I did bear witness. An occurrence that has flushed Vescrutia with its flare at least 50 times over. An oddity of planetary alignment. The Scarlet night. Others speak of it as the Advent of the Carnivorous Moon. It is a time where as you may know the planet is besmirched in an insidious aura. Naten almost foreign to this realm floods the side of the planet the moons fixate on in their orbit. Creature mate vigorously, aroused by the captivating gleam of the moons cardinal hue. Some bicker others fight. But...

"I have heard of this, She, Nagase mentioned this. But the light, it is harmless, exposes urges yes, but directly influences a being...to that extent.."

Had you answer creature we would not be here. But indeed. Normally it does not cause such a...strange transformation. Where you entered this forest as some reflection of man you changed into some manner of beast. A fearsome cesspit of unrecognizable lust and desire.A brute of instinct. I saw that change..you drank from the Moons themselves...a beast... like a living void seeking to devour the heavens you consumed its essence. You bore a likeness to an almost forgotten creation...ancient almost elven in kind. She felt this...the girl with you this...Nagase. She can feel it as well as I...You are somehow tethered to her kind, beings who have walked the currents of time here upon the Mother.

The leafy vessel turns from him to Nagase. Allen recalled this...right before his shifted form he felt an incredible longing for something. He was emptied out and force-fed the power of the Moon. Something willed this...Something that had been slumbering until the Advent.

"To...her...The Hellgate?"

Cease this war of will... YOU WILL HEED THE CALL!


It rang deep, loud in his mind. It was a crippling sound once that demanded obedience. He fell to his knees. The pounding pushing against his skull. Anguish etched on his face. However, the Wood stayed on Nagase.

The monster did not merely Kill the Orc...Neigh what he attempted to do was far sinister... What awoke in this naive curr was a dark and fearsome urge to overcome. He saw a Pillar that he had to topple a dream he had to crush. Within this boy is a will the likes I have not seen in ens. But within such a gift is turned against him he felt challenged by the Orc. The audacity presented him with a challenge. He was not satisfied with merely takin his life. As if by a whim he decided...

Allen grunted, his memories during the transformation returning.

"I...I was impressed by him, Bora. With a faring soul, he stood before me hopeful teeming with expectation...pride. He intrigued me. He sought to stand in my way. I wanted it...that feeling of having something to be proud of. He forsook his blade and we collided. I..Impalled him with my Anthem. Sent my hand deep within his heart from there...I had unleashed something within him..."

Daughter of Ves you witnessed what happened after, the ripple effects of what this beast cannot comprehend. He is like a newborn babe that has gained access to a place he was not ready to enter. But to take he sought anyway and thus he could not attest for the power of the soul of a living being. He tried to overtake the Orc, he flushed him full of his blood he sought to rip from the Orc everything that made him who he was and leave him with nothing. But the soul, the ever-burning furnace of ambition scorned him. The Orc pushed back, and his consciousness engulfed the creature...It was something that was a first for me to witness. And with his advent came a shifting in the creatures of this wood. Forever marred by the scarlet moons covetous nature. Forever scarred by this monster. He must leave...you must take him. For the trails of his beginnings do not rest here...It cannot stay here, I will allow no further harm to come to these children. The way it feeds, the reasons it does this...is...unatural

Allen remembered how it felt plunging his fist into the chest of the Orc, the feeling of pillaging his essence. The thrill of claiming his life. The sense of fufillment that came after. And the jarring experience of almost being washed away by desire. He was still in pain, his head still rininging. How come she didn't hear the voice. It thundered like the skies that night. Hearing the Wood speak shocked him back into reality somewhat. It seemed his welcome had bee overstayed

-She remained silent throughout the entire conversation between Allen and the wood. Admittedly she was startled by the thunderous overtone of the creature, it’s ferocity commanding silence and obedience, much like her father when pushed to anger. Without them noticing, as much she could possibly present, she mouthed along, mimicking the noises and movements of their faces, to mime was one her favorite pass times.

The conversation went on, but when the Wood describes and personally explained Allen’s actions, her own suspicion were confirmed- he couldn’t be left to his own devices. Allen’s mental stability fluctuated wildly, something you’d overlook if you only listen to how he put his words together;but, it was clear as day now- Allen had power issues.

“I’ll hold on to my judgements about you, saving them for myself really;but, I can be of help here. I’ll take Allen back to Astral City with me, maybe my father can better answer what...you are Allen.”

-It was always in her intention to take Allen back with her to Astral City and this Mythical Creature, some parental figure over Allen, seemed to agree. Her eyes shifted about, slightly startled, more alerted, by the leaves rustling in the trees she noticed out of her peripheral.-

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Inariel H
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Re: Scarlet Night: Call of the Carnivorous Moon

Post by Inariel H »

"It knows more!"

He said staggering to his feet holding the right side of his face. His eyes like knives pointed at the vessel. It always dealt like this. Speaking in vague giving only tidbits. Yet casting its viewpoints of Allen despite knowing his flaw in memory. He was sick of it...

"What of the Voice? It told me to heed the call! What is the call!?"

With a monstrous and primal wail, the foul lifted its large head after Nagase obliged in removing the bo from its domain. It stared intently at Allen

There are many calls to notice, answers are something that adults go and seek. You will find no more affirmation here. Go now to the chaos, a facet of your truth lies within the pits of Hellgate lore...I have given you all that I can...

Its heavy footsteps shook the earth once more as it turned from Allen.

You are something similar to a child of dust. The essence of life, its unyielding sway echoes twice within you. Your blood takes...but I have seen it give breath more times than it has taken it. But control, truth, awareness. These are not things I can gift to you...Honor your kill. To be apart of natures cycle as you wish requires you to respect the dead...

With that, the body of the creature began to rapidly wilt and wither away. To mulch, the wood returned galavanting on the winds carrying it on its coattails. Allen was...irritated but those parting words were probably the closest thing to Nice that the Wood ever said t him. Its speech rhythmic its words cryptic. He hated how he was being viewed but something Nagase said stuck.
‘You can’t be a perversion of nature if you’re born of nature, Allen.’
He reflected on is Anthem. His blood was tied to life. Giving of himself to fulfill the cycle. The scarlet night was it really such a horrid thing? Did not life beget death and death begets life? Wat that what The Wood meant when it said: "It echoes within him twice?" He was over this. His head was filled with too many possibles and not enough certainty. Fr now he would now follow Nagase. To bear witness to the World outside this Den and beyond this forest. To see with eyes that were no longer beguiled with cloudy vision and dazzling glimmers.

"The lead is now yours, I....I am ready to leave now if this pleases you..."
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